It took HTC less than a year to realize what a poorly thought out investment Beats Audio was as the Taiwanese handset maker sold half of its 50.1 percent stake back to the company founders, Dr. Dre and Jimmy Lovine.

HTC bought a 50.1 stake in Beats Audio back for $309 million back in August 2011. At the time, the company hoped it would be a feature that would make them more appealing to the masses, and bundled premium Beats earphones with some phones.

Unfortunately, things didn't go the way HTC hoped and the company stopped bundling the earphones in April. The company claimed that users weren't buying the handsets specifically for the Beats earphones, in which case it simply adds up as unnecessary cost.

HTC issued a statement saying it will continue to work closely with Beats and it is widely expected that the latter will continue to provide software enhancements for HTC's smartphones.

Nexon, the Korea video game developer, has acquired a 14.7% stake in NCSoft according to a number of reports, and the company is confirming this. NCSoft is a fellow Korean publisher. While the two companies have been focused on different market niches, the decision seems to be sitting well with many we have spoken with.

According to Nexon, the purchase was part of a long-term partnership between the two companies. The 14.7% interest in NCSoft is said to have cost approximately $688 million dollars to get the deal done.

Sources tell us that the shares, which number around 3.218 million, were purchased from NCSoft Chairman and founder, Taek Jin Kim. With this purchase, Nexon is now the largest shareholder in the company.